My favourite player was LeBron James. Paul’s favourite player was Tyrone Bogues, a guy who played for the Charlotte Hornets, although we actually agree that they are both champions. Bogues was only 1.6 metres tall, which made him the shortest player ever in the NBA. Guess what? Paul was only 1.6 metres tall, too! Paul knew that being shorter than other players meant that he had to practise more. During all those hours of doing jump shots on his own, he used Bogues as his inspiration. Paul once said, “If Bogues could make it, why not me?”
Our coach was not so sure. Paul had to try out many times just for making the team. He was still usually on the bench, being just a replacement, which was really tough on him. Everyone knew Paul had real skills, and was someone who worked really hard and had a strong desire to play for the team. However, Paul didn’t get a chance.
Which words best describe Paul?
A.Smart and brave. | B.Inexperienced and shy. |
C.Skilled and hard-working. | D.Strong-willed and independent. |
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3 . Animals are natural resources that people have wasted all through our history. Animals have been killed for their fur and feathers, for food, for sport, and simply because they were in the way. Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the world forever. Hundreds more are on the danger list today. About 170 kinds in the United States alone are considered in danger.
Why should people care? Because we need animals. And because once they are gone, there will never be any more.
Animals are more than just beautiful and interesting. They are more than just a source of food. Every animal has its place in the balance of nature. Destroying one kind of animal can create many problems.
For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks, the farmers’ stores of corn and grain were destroyed by rats and mice. Why? Because hawks eat rats and mice.With no hawks to keep down their numbers, the rats and mice multiplied quickly.
Luckily, some people are working to help save the animals. Some groups raise money to let people know about the problem. And they try to get the governments to pass laws protecting animals in danger.
Quite a few countries have passed laws. These laws forbid the killing of any animals or plants on the danger list. Slowly, the number of some animals in danger is growing.
1. What can we infer from the passage?A.People have known the importance of animal protection a long time ago. |
B.The number of hawks is on the decrease. |
C.Animals play an important role in people’s life. |
D.Many countries passed laws forbidding the killing of any animal. |
A.Became more. | B.Became less. |
C.Turned black. | D.Ate food. |
4 . Why do Americans struggle with watching their weight, while the French, who consume rich food, continue to stay thin? Now a research by Cornell University suggests how life style and decisions about eating may affect weight. Researchers concluded that the French tend to stop eating when they feel full. However, Americans tend to stop when their plate is empty or their favorite TV show is over.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, a health expert, the French see eating as an important part of their life style. They enjoy food and therefore spend a fairly long time at the table, while Americans see eating as something to be squeezed between the other daily activities. Mercola believes Americans lose the ability to sense when they are actually full. So they keep eating long after the French would have stopped. In addition, he points out that Americans drive to huge supermarkets to buy canned and frozen foods for the week. The French, instead, tend to shop daily, walking to small shops and farmers’ markets where they have a choice of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs as well as high-quality meats for each meal.
After a visit to the United States, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, decided to write about the importance of knowing when to stop rather than suggesting how to avoid food. Today she continues to stay slim and rarely goes to the gym.
In spite of all these differences, evidence shows that recent life style changes may be affecting French eating habits. Today the rate of obesity-or extreme overweight-among adults is only 6%. However, as American fast food gains acceptance and the young reject older traditions, the obesity rate among French children has reached 17%-and is growing.
Where does this text probably come from?
A.A TV interview | B.A food advertisement | C.A health report | D.A book review |
5 . Monkeys seem to have a way with numbers.
A team of researchers trained three Rhesus monkeys to associate 26 clearly different symbols consisting of numbers and selective letters with 0-25 drops of water or juice as a reward. The researchers then tested how the monkeys combined—or added—the symbols to get the reward.
Here’s how Harvard Medical School scientist Margaret Livingstone, who led the team, described the experiment: In their cages the monkeys were provided with touch screens. On one part of the screen, a symbol would appear, and on the other side two symbols inside a circle were shown. For example, the number 7 would flash on one side of the screen and the other end would have 9 and 8. If the monkeys touched the left side of the screen they would be rewarded with seven drops of water or juice; if they went for the circle, they would be rewarded with the sum of the numbers—17 in this example.
After running hundreds of tests, the researchers noted that the monkeys would go for the higher values more than half the time, indicating that they were performing a calculation, not just memorizing the value of each combination....
In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?
A.Entertainment. | B.Health. | C.Education. | D.Science. |
6 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane surrounded by people who like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It's more likely that none of us start a conversation because...
What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?
A.Addiction to smartphones. |
B.Inappropriate behaviors in public places. |
C.Absence of communication between strangers. |
D.Impatience with slow service |
7 . I’m fat. I’m too skinny. I’d be happy if I were taller, shorter, had curly hair, straight hair, a smaller nose, bigger muscles, longer legs. Do any of these statements sound familiar? Do you often put yourself down? If so, you’re not alone. As a teen, you’re going through a ton of changes in your body. And as your body changes, so does your image of yourself. Lots of people have trouble getting used to it, and this can affect their confidence.
Some people think they need to change how they look or act to feel good about themselves. But actually all you need to do is to change the way you see your body and how you think about yourself.
The first thing to do is to recognise that your body is your own, no matter what shape, size, or colour it comes in. If you're very worried about your weight or size, go to your doctor to check if things are OK. But it’s no one’s business but your own what your body is like finally, you have to be happy with yourself.
Next, find which aspects(方面) of your appearance you can change and which you can’t. Everyone, even the most perfect-seeming celebrity, has things about themselves that they can’t change and need to accept-like their height, for example, or their shoe size.
If there are things about yourself that you want to change and can, do this by making goals for yourself. For example, if you want to get fit, make a plan to exercise every day and eat nutritious foods.
When you hear negative comments coming from within yourself, tell yourself to stop. Try building your confidence by listing three things in your day that really give you pleasure. It can be anything like the way the sun feels on your face, the sound of your favourite band, or the way someone laughs at your jokes.
1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?A.Most teens like to have a special body image. |
B.Many teens can’t accept their body changes easily. |
C.Teens prefer to change their body image quickly. |
D.Teens usually change their opinions on their body image. |
A.change the way other people look at you. |
B.go to your doctor for advice on how to change your body. |
C.learn from some celebrities on how to change your body. |
D.realise you can't change everything about yourself. |
A.Make yourself fall down. | B.Write down your name somewhere. |
C.Force yourself to do something | D.Say negative things about yourself. |
A.how to adjust the changes of your body |
B.how to build confidence by changing your body |
C.how to keep an attractive body image |
D.how to find pleasure in your day |
8 . As data and identity theft becomes more and more common, the market is growing for biometric(生物测量) technologies—like fingerprint scans—to keep others out of private e-spaces. At present, these technologies are still expensive, though.
Researchers from Georgia Tech say that they have come up with a low-cost device(装置) that gets around this problem: a smart keyboard. This smart keyboard precisely measures the cadence(节奏) with which one types and the pressure fingers apply to each key. The keyboard could offer a strong layer of security by analyzing things like the force of a user’s typing and the time between key presses. These patterns are unique to each person. Thus, the keyboard can determine people’s identities, and by extension, whether they should be given access to the computer it’s connected to—regardless of whether someone gets the password right.
It also doesn’t require a new type of technology that people aren’t already familiar with. Everybody uses a keyboard and everybody types differently.
In a study describing the technology, the researchers had 100 volunteers type the word “touch” four times using the smart keyboard. Data collected from the device could be used to recognize different participants based on how they typed, with very low error rates. The researchers say that the keyboard should be pretty straightforward to commercialize and is mostly made of inexpensive, plastic-like parts. The team hopes to make it to market in the near future.
Where is this text most likely from?
A.A diary. | B.A guidebook | C.A novel. | D.A magazine. |
9 . What is talent? Are you born with it? Or does it seem to develop over time? Before I start, I’d like to say that one thing everyone agrees on is that the most skilled musicians have worked hard to get there.
While it’s true that a few of us had enough “talent” to avoid extra practice to do just as well as those who did, those who worked hard easily beat us. It is, in fact, very likely that if some of us “talented ones” had actually been practicing and improving our skill, we would have achieved a whole different level.
Another aspect of talent seems to be heart and passion (酷爱). The people I see who are the most talented musicians are crazy about music. They eat, breathe, and live music and they make an extraordinary effort to make it part of their lives. As Remus Badea said, desire for the musician-to-be is significant for them to be successful. This desire is easily found in those considered to be talented. When you want and love something so bad, it drives you and your entire character can be shaped around it. Such determined passion seems to produce incredible skill and talent.
The third aspect (方面) of talent is having talent around you. When surrounded by talented musicians, it only seems natural that you start to catch up to their level Take a look at almost any group of musicians in history. The more talented people in the group the more talented the group is as a whole. A great example of this is the relationship between audio producer and artist. The artist turns up to the studio with their song, and as they work through recording it, the audio producer will often suggest various changes to the song to make it better.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?A.Pride goes before a fall. |
B.It’s never too old to learn. |
C.Practice contributes to talent. |
D.Talent determines achievements. |
A.Passion. | B.Character . | C.Skill. | D.Talent. |
A.To introduce what real talents are. |
B.To explain how a song is composed. |
C.To prove talents need team spirit. |
D.To show the benefits of being with talents. |
A.Music has no limits. |
B.Musicians are born with talent. |
C.Music favors the talented. |
D.Musicians are created, not born. |
10 . The use of AI (artificial intelligence) is becoming more common in many branches of industry and online shopping. Traditional lines of work, such as goods transport and driving, are developing in a similar direction although mainly out of public view. Scientists at the University of Göttingen have now investigated how efficient (高效的) the use of AI can be in the commercial management of trucks.
“Digital applications—as well as machine leaning, a kind of AI—are increasingly applied to operations and courses in the transport area,” explains Professor Matthias Klumpp from the Faculty of Economics. “The question in the commercial area, however, is whether or not this contributes to achieving goals.”
To answer this question, the researchers compared the work efficiency of truck drivers with their main use of AI applications. Looking at trade delivery by truck, they studied three groups: the first drove completely following human decision-making models; the second used a combination of human and machine; and the third depended completely on fully automated decisions.
The researchers found that an intelligent combination of human work and decision-making abilities with AI applications promises the highest transport and driving efficiency. “On average, the second group achieved the most efficient transport trips, with the fewest interventions (干预) and off-course from the best path.” one researcher said, “Clearly, neither a completely human decision-making structure nor a fully automated driving system can promise to meet current goods transport requirements.” The scientists therefore summarized that despite the progress of AI in the field of transportation by truck, human experience and decision-making abilities will still be necessary in the longer term. However, the challenge is that a wide range of training and qualification (资格) needs will come along by working with Al applications, especially for simple goods transport activities.
1. What does Matthias Klumpp focus on?A.The efficiency of AI. |
B.The advantages of AI. |
C.The problems caused by AI. |
D.The wide applications of AI. |
A.By providing examples. |
B.By making comparisons. |
C.By using different trucks. |
D.By listing three experiments. |
A.Al is better at making decisions. |
B.A balance is needed between human and AI. |
C.Human will soon be replaced by AI in driving. |
D.Al applications meet the current requirements. |
A.The future of transport. |
B.Artificial intelligence as a co-driver. |
C.Artificial intelligence-a better choice in driving. |
D.The strengths of artificial intelligence in transport. |