1 . Around this time of year when the weather gets cooler in Arkansas, there are a lot of homeless people, as well as people with different situations who just need help.
Oftentimes Our family serves at a soup kitchen where they give out bags of food to needy families in our area. And we’ll help put those bags of food together and hand them out, among other things.
There are a lot of reasons why serving the community is important to me, but one of them has to do with my father. My grandfather died when my father was 4 years old and my grandmother had four kids all under the age of 5, all born pretty close together. That was a time when things were so bad in the country. There wasn’t work and often the family hardly made ends meet, so my grandmother put the kids in a childrenˈs home so that they could at least have food to survive.
My dad said he never forgot the local charity would bring the kids a gift for Christmas. The kids worked hard in the children’s home and the only present they got was from the local charity. He never forgot this kindness and always appreciated the local charity for what it did when he Was a little boy.
My dad was such a hardworking worker- family meant the world to him. I was the seventh baby in my family and my mother had me just after she turned 40. She was one of those high-risk pregnancy moms, and Iˈm so grateful she had me. My mom and dad made a happy home for us, and I’m so grateful for that. I hope my children are catching those lessons, not just from Mom and Dad, but from grandparents and everyone else in their lives.
1. Why does the author consider serving the community important?| A．His father led a hard life in his childhood. |
| B．He was inspired by his fatherˈs life experiences. |
| C．He was grateful for what his father had done for him. |
| D．His father worked hard and took good care of the family. |
| A．The family had too many children. |
| B．The kids were born too close together. |
| C．It provided food for the kids to survive. |
| D．The kids could lead a very comfortable life there. |
| A．Kind and creative. | B．Strict and helpful. |
| C．Devoted and patient. | D．Grateful and hardworking. |
| A．Father meant the world to the family. |
| B．The author hopes his kids learn to be grateful. |
| C．The kids received Christmas gifts from their parents. |
| D．The author’s family opens a soup kitchen to offer help. |
2 . A 15-year-old Colorado high school student and young scientist who has used artificial intelligence (AI) and created apps to address polluted drinking water, drug addiction and other social problems has been named Time Magazine’s first-ever “Kid of the Year”.
Rao told The Associated Press in an interview from her home that the prize is nothing that I could have ever imagined. And I’m so grateful and just so excited that we’re really taking a look at the upcoming generation and our generation, since the future is in our hands.
Time said Rao stood out for creating a global community of young innovators and inspiring them to pursue their goals. Rao insisted that starting out small doesn't matter, as long as you're passionate about it.
She told Time contributing editor Angelina Jolie in an interview that her science pursuits started early as a way to improve social conditions. The drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan, inspired her work to develop a way to detect pollutants and send those results to a mobile phone, she said.
“I was like 10 when I told my parents that I wanted to research carbon nanotube (纳米管) sensor technology at the Denver Water quality research lab, and my mum was like, A what?” Rao told Jolie. She said that work is going to be in our generation’s hands pretty soon. “So if no one else is gonna do it, I’m gonna do it.”
In a world where science is increasingly questioned or challenged, Rao insisted that its pursuit is an act of kindness, the best way that a younger generation can better the world.
“We have science in everything we’re involved in, and I think that’s the biggest thing to put out there, that science is cool, innovating is cool, and anybody can be an innovator.” Rao said, “Anybody can do science.”
1. What did Rao think of the award she received?| A．It was a mark of social progress. | B．It was a recognition of her work. |
| C．It was an inspiration to the youth. | D．It was a title beyond her expectation |
| A．To encourage people to aim high. | B．To pursue her passion for research. |
| C．To change the society for the better. | D．To stop science from being questioned. |
| A．Cool. | B．Kind. | C．Independent. | D．Creative. |
| A．To report a young genius. | B．To introduce new inventions. |
| C．To improve social conditions. | D．To present artificial intelligence. |
3 . September is an exciting month in every college freshman’s life. For many, it’s the first time that they’ve left home to live in a new environment. But after the hustle and bustle of a few weeks, excitement gives way to a less enjoyable emotion—homesickness.
Homesickness manifests itself in many ways. You may miss mum’s cooking, your pets, or even your old bed. All this becomes a fond memory of the past. Homesickness can be a bitter feeling for many students, especially when faced with the challenges of settling into an unfamiliar environment.
But remember, you’re not alone. According to a recent BBC article, 70 percent of British college students experience homesickness. In this increasingly globalized world in which people migrate to faraway places for a relationship, education or work, homesickness is a feeling shared by many adults.
Homesickness can have similar symptoms to depression and in extreme cases it can develop into a panic attack. As for the term, homesickness or nostalgia wasn’t invented until the 17th century. It was considered a disorder by a Swiss physician, who attributed soldiers’ mental and physical discomfort to their longing to return home, “nostos” from Greek, and the accompanying pain, “algos”.
Studies in recent years, however, have shown that nostalgia may have some benefits to our mental health. After a decade of surveys and researches, Constantine Sedikides, a US social psychologist, found that nostalgia is what makes us human. He explains that nostalgia can resist loneliness, boredom and anxiety. Therefore, it’s necessary for college students to learn some ways to overcome the uncomfortable feeling.
1. From the first two paragraphs, we can infer that ________.| A．homesickness means a fond memory of the past |
| B．only a few students will experience homesickness |
| C．homesickness is an enjoyable emotion among freshmen |
| D．college freshmen usually suffer from homesickness after weeks |
| A．negative | B．supportive | C．skeptical | D．critical |
| A．Some benefits about homesickness. |
| B．Other problems in college freshmen’s life. |
| C．How to make campus life more meaningful. |
| D．Some tips on how to cope with homesickness. |
| A．Let’s embrace homesickness |
| B．How to fit into the college life |
| C．A harmful emotion—homesickness |
| D．The disadvantages of homesickness |
4 . Imagine a world where you move around in front of a personal computer in your own sound space. You listen to your favorite songs, play loud computer games or watch a movie — all without other people hearing the sound and without headphones.
That is the possibility presented by “sound beaming”, a new technology from Noveto Systems, an Israeli company. On Friday, the company introduced a desktop device that sends sound directly to a listener without the need for headphones or a special receiver.
Noveto Systems gave The Associated Press (AP) a chance to test its SoundBeamer 1.0 before its introduction. The AP’s Louise Dixon writes that listening to the device is like something from a science fiction movie.The sound seems so close that it feels like it is inside your ears while also in front, above and behind them.
Noveto expects the device will have many uses. Office workers could listen to music or conference calls without others hearing. People could play a game, a movie or music without waking up others in the same room. Because the device does not use headphones, it is possible to hear other sounds in the room clearly.
The device uses a 3-D sensing module that finds and follows the ear position of the listener. It sends ultrasonic waves (超声波) to create sound pockets by the user’s ears. The 3-D method creates sound on all sides of the listener, therefore the listeners feel completely transported into the scene.
By changing a setting, the sound can follow a listener around when he moves his head. It is also possible to move out of the sound beam's path and hear nothing at all.
While the idea of sound beaming is not new, Noveto was the first to launch the technology.
According to the chief executive officer Christophe Ramstein, a “smaller” version of the device will be ready for release to consumers next year.
1. What does the underlined word “possibility” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．The listener may put on music to block out other sounds. |
| B．The listener may hear sound only for him or her without using headphones. |
| C．The listener may enjoy songs or movies without being interrupted by others. |
| D．The listener may have the ability to pick up some special sounds. |
| A．Amazing. | B．Impossible. |
| C．Strange. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．It places the listener on the scene to hear the sound. |
| B．It fixes a sound beam’s path which can not be changed. |
| C．It follows the listeners around to send and receive sounds. |
| D．With 3-D tracking technology, it sends ultrasonic waves to the target listener. |
| A．To promote the SoundBeamer. | B．To introduce a new sound device. |
| C．To recommend new headphones. | D．To explain a technical phenomenon. |
5 . I have always found the Chinese to be a very polite people. In particular, Chinese frequently compliment (称赞) foreign friends on their language skills, knowledge of Chinese culture, professional accomplishments, and personal health. Curiously, however, Chinese are as loath to accept a compliment as they are eager to give one. As many of my Chinese friends have explained, this is a sign of the Chinese virtue of modesty.
I have noticed a difference, though, in the degree to which modesty is emphasized in the United States and China. In the US, we tend to place more emphasis on “seeking the truth from fact”, thus, Americans tend to accept a compliment with gratitude.
Chinese, on the other hand, tend to reject the compliment, even when they know they deserve the credit or recognition which has been awarded them. I can imagine a Chinese basketball fan meeting Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. He might say, “Mr. Jordan, I am so happy to meet you. I just want to tell you, you are the best basketball player in the world; you’re the greatest!” to which Jordan would probably respond, “Thank you very much. I really appreciate it! I just to try to do my best every time I step on the court.” If an American met Deng Yaping, China’s premier pingpong player, he might say much the same thing: “Ms. Deng, you’re the best!” but as a Chinese, Deng would probably say, “No, I really don’t play all that well. You’re too much kind.”
Plainly, Americans and Chinese have different ways of responding to praise. Ironically, many Americans might consider Ms. Deng’s response the less modest, because it is less truthful—and therefore less sincere. Americans generally place sincerity above manners; genuine gratitude for the praise serves as a substitute for protestations of modesty. After all, in the words of one of my closest Chinese friends, modesty taken to the extreme is pride.
1. What does the underlined word “loath” in paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Polite. | B．Uncertain. | C．Curious. | D．Unwilling. |
| A．To note they do as much as they can each time they play against others. |
| B．To remind readers they are the best players in basketball and table tennis. |
| C．To explain they deserve the credit or recognition for their great contributions. |
| D．To show they as Chinese and Americans are different in accepting praise. |
| A．They think sincerity matters the most. | B．They think her reply is against the fact. |
| C．They think she is too modest to believe. | D．They think manners is more important. |
| A．Education. | B．Sports. | C．Culture. | D．People. |
6 . Les Brown was adopted by Mamie Brown, a kitchen worker and maid. Due to the learning disability, Les was placed in special education class throughout high school. Upon graduation, he became a city cleaner in Miami Beach. But he had a dream of being a DJ.
At night, he would take a radio to bed, listening to the talking DJs. He created an imaginary radio station in his tiny room with a hairbrush as his microphone, practicing introducing records to his ghost listeners.
One day, Les bravely went to the local radio station during his lunch break and told the manager he wanted to be a DJ. But the manager told him they had no job for him. The station manager assumed that he had seen the last of this young man. But he underestimated the depth of Les’s devotion to his goal. You see, Les had a higher purpose than simply wanting to be a DJ—buying a nicer house for his adoptive mother.
So Les returned to the station every day for a week, asking if there were any job openings. Finally the station manager gave in and took him on as an errand boy—at no pay. Les did whatever was asked of him at the station, and more. While hanging out with the DJs, he taught himself their hand movements on the control panel. Then, back in his bedroom at night, he practiced and prepared himself for the opportunity that he knew would present itself.
One afternoon, a DJ named Rock was drinking while on the air. Les was the only other person in the building. Only minutes after the program was on, the phone rang. It was the station manager Mr. Klein, who asked whether he knew how to work the controls in the studio. That afternoon, he impressed the audience and his general manager. From then on, Les went on to a successful career in broadcasting, politics, public speaking and television.
1. What led to Les’s being put in special education class?| A．His poor family. | B．His difficulty in learning. |
| C．His physical disability. | D．His dream of being a DJ. |
| A．To become a DJ at a radio station. | B．To buy a better house for Mamie Brown. |
| C．To create his own radio station. | D．To realize the dream of his adoptive mother. |
| A．Because he was ready for the job. | B．Because he went there every day. |
| C．Because he loved the job very much. | D．Because his persistence moved the manager. |
| A．No pains, no gains. | B．Practice makes perfect. |
| C．Opportunity favors those prepared. | D．Interest is the key to success. |
7 . People have many different ways to relax during break time at work or school. Smartphones are probably the number one choice for a quick mental vacation. Although it might seem like a good time, the result is opposite, according to a recent psychological study from Rutgers University.
For the study, more than 400 students were asked to finish a set of 20 word puzzles. Halfway though the task, the students were divided into three groups. One group was allowed to take a break and use cellphones to buy things online. The second group was asked to have a rest and buy things using a computer. The last group didn't take any break at all.
Surprisingly, the group that used their cellphones during the break went back to work feeling the most tired and least motivated to continue. They also had the hardest time solving the remaining word puzzles.
Terri Kurtzberg, co-author of the study, explained that they assumed looking at cellphones during a break would be no different from any other break—but instead, the phone may cause increasing levels of distraction that make it difficult to return focused attention to work tasks.
“Cellphones may have this effect because even just seeing your phone activates thoughts of checking messages, connecting with people, and more, in ways that are different than how we use other screens like computers, and laptops," Kurtzberg said.
This is echoed by a recent study from the US University of Chicago. It found that even if cellphones are turned off or turned face down, their mere presence reduces a person's cognitive capacity.
1. What can we learn from the study?| A．The participants were divided into groups at the beginning. |
| B．The last group had the hardest time solving the word puzzles. |
| C．Computers and laptops cause more distraction. |
| D．Cellphones may make people less focused on work. |
| A．Agreed. | B．Remembered. | C．Overcome. | D．Complained. |
| A．Try putting your smartphone away during your next break. |
| B．Using computers to shop online rather than cellphones. |
| C．Stop checking messages and connecting with people by cellphone. |
| D．Turning off your cellphone during work time. |
| A．Ways to relax for students. | B．The result from a word- puzzle game. |
| C．A study on using smart-phones to relax. | D．Effects brought by the smart-phone. |
8 . You've likely encountered the humblebrag before-boasting （吹嘘）disguised as a complaint, such as： "I'm having such a stressful day. I got two job offers and I don't know what to do.”
This is a typical example of humblebragging, a term coined by comedic writer Harris Wittels referring to “ a specific type of boast that allows the offender to broadcast their achievements without the necessary shame and guilt that should normally accompany such claims.” In simpler terms, it's a way to disguise a boast with some humility. Humblebragging comes in two different forms. The first is humility-based, an example being, "can't believe I got the highest grade in my class”. The second type comes mixed with a bit of complaint, for example, " I can't believe that shopkeeper asked me for ID. I'm 25 !”
People don't like when others humblebrag because they find they are lacking in sincerity. Sincerity is a critical dimension of social evaluation, which is viewed as fundamental to people's identity. In fact, people prize sincerity even above competence and warmth in others, according to Dr. Sezer.
If humblebragging doesn't work, and no one likes it, why do we still do it? We all want to highlight our positive qualities without seeming proud. By speaking in a complaint or an expression of humility, we hope we'll somehow land on the “ sweet spot" of self-presentation ： promoting ourselves while also conveying likability. In addition, research suggests that people may experience positive emotions while humblebragging.
Considering that we're all likely to feel the urge to humblebrag, at least to some extent, the proper response when we hear a friend doing it may be to simply let it go-because ultimately we're going to do it ourselves, and who really wants to be called out on it?
1. Which of the following remarks is an example of humblebragging?| A．How I hate hearing my voice on TV! |
| B．I'm thrilled to be awarded the first prize. |
| C．I'm the only person to get promoted in the firm. |
| D．How I dislike doing the same thing every day! |
| A．Honest. | B．Humble. |
| C．Insincere. | D．Incapable. |
| A．To lift up their spirits. |
| B．To express their complaints. |
| C．To improve their moral qualities. |
| D．To show off without bringing annoyance. |
| A．Follow it up. | B．Leave it alone. |
| C．Turn against it. | D．Get to the root of it. |
9 . Elizabeth Spelke, a cognitive (认知的) psychologist at Harvard, has spent her career testing the world's most complex learning system-the mind of a baby. Babies might seem like no match for artificial intelligence (AI). They are terrible at labeling images, hopeless at mining text, and awful at video games. Then again, babies can do things beyond the reach of any AI. By just a few months old, they’ve begun to grasp the foundations of language, such as grammar. They’ve started to understand how to adapt to unfamiliar situations.
Yet even experts like Spelke don’t understand precisely how babies — or adults, for that matter — learn. That gap points to a puzzle at the heart of modern artificial intelligence: We're not sure what to aim for.
Consider one of the most impressive examples of AI, Alpha Zero, a programme that plays board games with superhuman skill. After playing thousands of games against itself at a super speed, and learning from winning positions, Alpha Zero independently discovered several famous chess strategies and even invented new ones. It certainly seems like a machine eclipsing human cognitive abilities. But Alpha Zero needs to play millions more games than a person during practice to learn a game. Most importantly, it cannot take what it has learned from the game and apply it to another area.
To some AI experts, that calls for a new approach. In a November research paper, Francois Chollet, a well-known AI engineer, argued that it’s misguided to measure machine intelligence just according to its skills at specific tasks. “Humans don’t start out with skills; they start out with a broad ability to acquire new skills,” he says. “What a strong human chess player is demonstrating is not only the ability to play chess, but the potential to fulfill any task of a similar difficulty.” Chollet posed a set of problems, each of which requires an AI programme to arrange colored squares on a grid (格栅) based on just a few prior examples. It’s not hard for a person. But modern machine-learning programmes-trained on huge amounts of data — cannot learn from so few examples.
Josh Tenenbaum, a professor in MIT's Center for Brains, Minds & Machines, works closely with Spelke and uses insights from cognitive science as inspiration for his programmes. He says much of modern AI misses the bigger picture, comparing it to a cartoon about a two-dimensional world populated by simple geometrical (几何形的) people. AI programmes will need to learn in new ways — for example, by drawing causal inferences rather than simply finding patterns. “At some point — you know, if you’re intelligent — you realize maybe there's something else out there,” he says.
1. Compared to an advanced AI programme, a baby might be better at _______________.| A．labeling images | B．identifying locations |
| C．playing games | D．making adjustments |
| A．Stimulating. | B．Measuring. | C．Beating. | D．Limiting. |
| A．AI is good at finding similar patterns |
| B．AI should gain abilities with less training |
| C．AI lacks the ability of generalizing a skill |
| D．AI will match humans in cognitive ability |
| A．What is exactly intelligence? |
| B．Why is modern AI advanced? |
| C．Where is human intelligence going? |
| D．How do humans tackle the challenge of AI? |
10 . Robots that can cook are in growing demand(需求)in the United States. The increased demand comes at a time when restaurants are trying to put some distance between their workers and customers during the COVID-19.
In a few weeks, White Castle restaurants will test a robot arm that can cook French fries and other foods. The robot, called Flippy, is a product of Miso Robotics, a company based in Pasadena, California.
Robot food service was becoming popular even before the coronavirus pandemic(冠状病毒). Hospitals, college dining areas and other places tried to meet demand for food while keeping labor costs low. Robot chefs appeared at places like Creator, a restaurant in San Francisco. Now, some say, robots may become necessary for the food service industry. "I expect in the next two years you will see much more robotic adoption(采纳)in the food space because of COVID-19," Jain said.
Some peoples say, robots can lower the demand for labor. At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, cafe workers used to spend six hours per day making salads, notes Tonya Johnson, the school's director of nutrition services. But two years ago, the university added a Sally, a kind of robot that now makes around 40 salads per day. By adding Sally, the school was able to cut a job opening in its cooking staff, Johnson said. "I think the pandemic has made us realize how much we need more equipment like Sally," Johnson said.
Miso Robotics co-founder and chief Buck Jordan said fast food restaurants are already having trouble finding workers, partly as a result of a losing population of young workers. Jordan added that his company's position is that "automation(自动化)is not a choice". He added, "You must automate in order to survive in the future."
1. Why is robot food service becoming popular?| A．It can take the place of human beings in the future. |
| B．It can shorten the distance between workers and customers. |
| C．It can meet the demand for food and reduce the cost of labor. |
| D．It can make all kinds of delicious food in a very short time. |
| A．It is just a common robot like others. | B．It is useless to improve the speed of work. |
| C．It makes as many salads as workers. | D．It helps the school employ fewer workers. |
| A．Worried. | B．Supportive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．The popularity of robots in the food space. |
| B．The reason for choosing robots in restaurants. |
| C．More demand for robot cooks in US restaurants. |
| D．The difficulties in finding enough labor workers. |
