1 . Google has announced plans to stop supporting tools designed to follow Internet users across the web in order to target them with specific advertising.
Such tools are known as cookies-small data files that are stored on an Internet user's computer as they browse （浏览）different websites. This data can be read by web servers to identify web browsing behaviors of the user. Cookies make it possible for users to avoid having to repeatedly enter their user names and passwords to get access to websites they use often. But the use of cookies raises major privacy concerns, with critics saying a user's browsing history should not be recorded just to target them with ads.
Google announced in 2020 it had decided “to remove support for third-party cookies" from its Chrome browser. In another online announcement, Google repeated this promise, saying it will not build new tools to replace current cookie technology.
In explaining its decision, Google referred to a Pew Research study that found 72 percent of Americans feel that almost all of what they do online is tracked by advertisers. Google's decision to remove third-party cookies also followed increasing efforts to protect privacy in Europe and the United States. Google said the current Internet advertising model needs to change to answer “the growing concerns people have about their privacy and how their personal identity is being used.”
In January, however, Google's plan was questioned by British competition regulators. The country's Competition and Markets Authority announced it had launched an investigation into whether the changes would give Google an unfair advantage over competitors in Internet advertising. The agency said it received objections to the plan from Marketers for an Open Web, a league of technology and publishing companies. The group accuses Google of “abusing its dominant position” by attempting to create a new advertising model.
In its latest statement, Google said, “We will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across the web, nor will we use them in our products.”
1. According to the text, what do you know about cookies?| A．Cookies are inconvenient for web users. |
| B．The users should repeat their passwords to enter websites. |
| C．Google uses Cookies to monitor the web users' private life. |
| D．The tracks of the web users can be followed by the web servers. |
| A．To use a alternative tool. |
| B．To get more personal information, |
| C．To respond to concerns about privacy. |
| D．To create a fair Internet advertising platform. |
| A．It was organized by an agency of the US. |
| B．All people don't accept the Google's plan. |
| C．Google has the biggest advantages on the Internet. |
| D．Marketers for an Open Web is in favor of the Google's plan. |
| A．Privacy should be protected. |
| B．Google will change advertising model. |
| C．There should not be many advertisements on the web. |
| D．Cookies will be removed from Google for privacy protection. |
2 . In a study published in Nature Machine Intelligence, researchers at Ohio State University show how artificial intelligence（AI）can follow clinical trials to identify drugs for repurposing, a solution that can help advance innovative treatments.
Repurposing drugs is legal and not unusual. When doctors prescribe(开处方)drugs that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration(FDA)for purposes different from what is printed on the labels, the drugs are being used “off-label” Just because a drug is FDA-approved for a specific type of disease does not prevent it from having possible benefits for other purposes.
For example, Metformin, a drug that is FDA-approved for treating type 2 diabetes, is also used to treat PCOS(a disease of women), and other diseases. Trazodone, an anti-depressant with FDA-approval to treat depression, is also prescribed by doctors to help treat patients with sleep issues.
The Ohio State University research team created an AI deep learning model for predicting treatment probability with patient data including the treatment, outcomes, and potential confounders(干扰因素).
Confounders are related to the exposure and outcome. For example, a connection is identified between music festivals and increases in skin rashes(红疹). Music festivals do not directly cause skin rashes. In this case, one possible confounding factor between the two may be outdoor heat, as music festivals tend to run outdoors when the temperature is high, and heat is a known cause for rashes. When working with real-world data, confounders could number in the thousands. AI deep learning is well-suited to find patterns in the complexity of potentially thousands of confounders.
The researcher team used confounders including population data and co-prescribed drugs. With this proof-of-concept, now clinicians have a powerful AI tool to rapidly discover new treatments by repurposing existing medications.
1. What do we know about a drug used off-label?| A．It is sold without a label. |
| B．It is available at a low price. |
| C．Its uses extend beyond the original ones. |
| D．Its clinical trials are rejected by doctors. |
| A．are used off-label |
| B．treat rare diseases |
| C．result in sleep issues |
| D．are medical breakthroughs |
| A．They are possible treatments. |
| B．They are environmental factors. |
| C．They can be easily recognized in real-world data. |
| D．They should be taken into serious consideration. |
| A．AI examines benefits of existing drugs. |
| B．AI identifies off-label uses for drugs. |
| C．AI finds new drugs for common diseases. |
| D．AI proves the power of drug research. |
3 . It has been four years since the Flashfood App was set to hit Canadian grocery stores and make it easier for shoppers to buy soon-to-expiry (保质期) food at a discount. Much to my delight, I heard it advertised recently on a radio station and figured it’s time for an update, especially since people became more aware of food waste’s role in the climate crisis.
The first thing I did was download the App. I hadn’t done it before because it was limited to a few locations, but now it’s all over Canada. I could see immediately that many brands of yogurt are all marked down 50 percent. Users pay for the food using the App, and then pick it up at a marked location in the store. There is no need for you to worry about them actually being bad.
It makes sense for retailers to get behind this App because it offers a win-win situation for everyone involved. Flashfood sells 75% of the products made available through its App while saving consumers an average of 50% on those grocery items, and it has 300 000 active users right now. That number is expected to grow naturally as Flashfood partners with more grocers.
“As a food retailer, we are in the business of providing food, not wasting it. The Flashfood program allows us to provide our customers with a convenient and environmentally sustainable (可持续的) way to purchase food. Loblaw sells 77% of the items it puts on Flashfood, moving an average of ＄800 to ＄1000 worth of goods weekly at each of its largest stores,” said Gord Chem, senior VP with Loblaw’s Real Canadian Superstores.
I love looking for discount deals at the grocery store and always keep an eye out for the hot pink clearance stickers. But it’s always random, and I never know what I’m going to get from week to week. The appeal of Flashfood is that I can see what’s available, pre-purchase it, and leave it off my shopping list.
1. What can we know about the food on the Flashfood?| A．It’s delivered directly to the customers. | B．Users can pay for it in the marked store. |
| C．Much of it is charged at half the price. | D．It’ll be a month away before it goes bad. |
| A．reliable | B．doubtful | C．creative | D．beneficial |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By listing some examples. |
| C．By explaining the cause. | D．By introducing the result. |
| A．Customers can buy much cheaper food on a recent app. |
| B．Canadians have a smart approach to reducing food waste. |
| C．A win-win situation has been set for Canadians involved. |
| D．Canadians adopt a new way of protecting the environment. |
4 . Only three local students won Chinese Blog (博客) Competition. And 15 of the 18 awards went to students from China.
170 students' task: to get a fully-designed blog up and running, complete with many positions based on a theme of choice--- to food blogs.
The entries were judged on Language proficiency(熟练程度) and the quality of writing, as well as the design and level of exchanging ideas with readers.
Academics from the National University of Singapore and the SIM University, IT experts, and a journalist from Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao in Singapore made up the judges.
In the end, only three Singaporean students make it to the award list---the rest of the awards were swept up by students from China.
"No surprise," said Mr. Chow Yaw Long, 37, teachers-in-charge from Innova Junior College, which organized the event, "Although the topics were local subjects, the foreign students were generally better because of the content of the posts and their grasp of the Chinese language."
One of the three local students winning the first prize in the Best Language Award was blogger Christina Gao, 19, from the Saint Andrew's Junior College, who spared no effors in researching for and writing her blog. Each entry took her between five and seven days to produce, complete with pictures and even podcasts (播客).
Her advice for bloggers is: Be responsible.
"Some bloggers out there only seek to blame the authorities and other bloggers." Said Miss Gao, "I think they lack responsibilities and there is no value to their posts."
1. The competition was organized by________.| A．the National University of Singapore | B．Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao |
| C．Innova Junior College | D．the Saint Andrew's Junior College |
| A．Chinese students won most of the awards. |
| B．Not all the themes were about local subjects. |
| C．The blogs could be written in Chinese or Singlish. |
| D．The judges were from universities in Singapore and China. |
| A．she likes to blame the authorities. | B．she has a sense of resposibility |
| C．she thinks highly of the others' blogs. | D．she loves to read valuable posts. |
| A．how Chinese students won the awards in the competition |
| B．why bloggers should take responsibility for their blogs |
| C．how Miss Gao won the first prize in the competition |
| D．what the result of the competition was |
5 . British singer-song writer James Blunt shot to fame in 2005 with his single You're Beautiful and album(专辑) Back To Bedlam, and since then he remained the top of the UK singles chart.
Before James Blunt became a musician, he served in the army to fight for Queen and country. He spent four and a half years there, with six months in Kosovo as part of the peacekeeping force. Before leaving the army, Blunt had decided to achieve his dream of becoming a musician. In 2003, he was discovered by music producer Linda Perry who signed him to her Custard label. However the road to success never runs smoothly. It seemed that he would become another struggling singer trying to live from hand to mouth (勉强维持生计) when his first two singles failed to make an impact on the British charts. But everything changed when his third single You're Beautiful made it all the way to No.1 on the UK singles charts, and remained there for five weeks. The album Back to Bedlam soon followed and quickly became one of the biggest selling records of the year, remaining then continual weeks at No.1. Since then, he has sold more than three million records, making him the first British artist to top the American singles charts in nearly a decade.
Blunt, 34, a throwback (返祖者) to the 1970s softrock golden age, has been quoted by Western media as saying that he will never get used to people screaming at him in the street.
His success proves a lasting theory: You spend years chasing the right song. Then, if you're lucky, and if the song really takes off, you spend the rest of your life trying to escape it, or learning to live with it, a few years removed from You're Beautiful, he can still fill stages worldwide with fans who stay until the end.
1. What do we learn from the passage?| A．Blunt was discovered by Linda Perry before joining the army. |
| B．Blunt has already become famous before joining the army. |
| C．Blunt spent five years in the army altogether. |
| D．Blunt had the dream of becoming a musician before leaving the army. |
| A．Difficult | B．Happy |
| C．Boring | D．Smooth |
| A．Blunt is well-known in the world for his talent. |
| B．Blunt's fame as a musician came easily. |
| C．Blunt wasn't lucky enough to win his fans' support. |
| D．Blunt has to face the inconvenience that his fame has caused. |
| A．The song You're Beautiful |
| B．The latest album of James Blunt |
| C．The success of James Blunt as a musician |
| D．The whole life of James Blunt |
6 . A study confirmed that the cracks found on Mars’s surface last year by the Curiosity Rover are evidence of ancient lakes that likely dried up about 3.5 billion years ago. The new study provides further evidence of what the climate on the Red Planet may have been like in its ancient past.
The study, published online in Geology, proved that cracks on Mars’s surface previously photographed by Curiosity are dry mud cracks which could have only been formed when wet ground was exposed to the air. This conclusion was based on an analysis of a single area of rock known as “Old Soaker.”
Researchers used the Curiosity rover and information from its many tools including the Mars Hand Lens Imager, ChemCam Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) and the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) to study both the physical appearance and the chemistry of the rock, which is described as no bigger than a coffee table.
The analysis showed that cracks on the rocks were formed by exposure to air, rather than heat or the flow of water. In addition, the shape of the cracks suggests it experienced a single drying event on the planet, rather than getting wet and drying over repeatedly. The position of the cracks, closer to the center of the ancient lake rather than alongside it, also suggests that the lake levels changed often, rising and falling over time.
“The mud cracks are exciting because they help us to understand this ancient lake system,” lead study author Nathaniel Stein, a geologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said, referring to the ancient lake system on the planet.
Scientists have known of the existence of ancient water on Mars for years. A 2015 NASA study that measured water in Mars’s atmosphere suggested that ancient oceans may once have had more water than our own Arctic Ocean. However, because the planet has less gravity and a thinner atmosphere than Earth, this water evaporated(蒸发) into space over the course of several billion years.
1. What is the Curiosity Rover?| A．An organization. | B．A scientist. |
| C．A planet. | D．A machine. |
| A．The cracks are near the center of an ancient lake. |
| B．Mars was getting wet and drying more than once. |
| C．The lake level on Mars seldom changes over time. |
| D．The cracks on the rocks were formed by water flow. |
| A．Ancient water still exists on Mars now. |
| B．The gravity on Mars is stronger than that on Earth. |
| C．The atmosphere on Earth is thicker than that on Mars. |
| D．The ancient Arctic Ocean had more water than it has now. |
| A．Water on Mars. | B．A trip to Mars. |
| C．A study on Mars. | D．Cracks on Mars. |
7 . The year 2020 marks the beginning of the decade of the yold, or the “young old”, as the Japanese call people aged between 65 and 75. One might therefore expect peak retirement for baby-boomers born in 1955-60 in the coming years, but they are not retiring quietly into the background. By continuing to work, and staying socially involved, the yold will change the world, as they have done several times before at different stages of their lives.
The yold are healthier, wealthier and more numerous (众多) than previous generations of seniors. 134million 65-to-74-year-olds account for 11% of the population in rich countries in 2020, up from 99million (8%) in 2000. Health worsens with age, but the yold are resisting the decline better than most: of the 3.7 years of increased life expectancy in rich countries between 2000 and 2015. The yold are also better off: between 1989 and 2013, the median (中位的) wealth of families headed by someone over 62 in America rose by 40% , while the wealth of all other age groups declined.
The yold are not just any group of old people. The over-60s are one of the fastest-growing groups of customers of the airline business. They are also changing education. They are challenging the traditional expectations of the retired as people who wear slippers and look after the grandchildren. That will affect consumer, service and financial markets.
The rise of the yold will be a blessing to themselves, to economies and to societies. But for all this to happen, three big things will have to change. The most important is public attitudes towards older people, and in particular the expectation that 60-somethings ought to be putting their feet up and quietly retiring into the background. Government policies will have to change, too. The retirement age in many rich countries is still below the age to which many people want to work. Public policy makes retirement a cliff edge instead of a ramp (斜坡). Third, higher numbers of healthy yold people will require great changes in health spending although the yold will still be comparative healthy and active over the next decade.
1. Why will the yold not retire quietly into the background?| A．They have a longer life expectancy. |
| B．They are richer than the other age groups. |
| C．They have an increasing population. |
| D．They can still play a vital role in society. |
| A．To stay at home babysitting grandchildren. |
| B．To get further education in universities. |
| C．To travel all over the world by plane. |
| D．To stay socially engaged in the company. |
| A．Bringing forward their retirement age. |
| B．Being age-friendly towards them. |
| C．Reducing their cost in health care. |
| D．Taking good care of them at home. |
| A．Three effective measures should be taken for the yold. |
| B．People hold different opinions over the yold’s retirement. |
| C．The yold continue to make a big difference to society. |
| D．The baby-boomers are changing our society nowadays. |
8 . Languages will continue to diverge. Even if English were to become the universal language, it would still take many different forms. Indeed the same could happen to English as has happened to Chinese: a language of intellectuals which doesn’t vary hugely alongside a large number of variations used by local peoples.
We will continue to teach other languages in some form, and not just for reasons of practical use. Learning a language is good for your mental health; it forces you to understand another cultural and intellectual system. So I hope British education will develop a more rational approach to the foreign languages available to students in line with their political importance. Because so many people believe it is no longer important to know another language, I fear that time devoted to language teaching in schools may well continue to decline. But you can argue that learning another language well is more exhausting than, say, learning to play chess well—it involves sensitivity to a set of complicated rules, and also to context.
Technology will certainly make a difference to the use of foreign languages. Computers may, for instance, relieve the hard work that a vast translation represents. But no one who has seen a computer translation will think it can substitute for live knowledge of the different languages. A machine will always be behind the times. Still more important is the fact that no computer will ever get at the associations beyond the words associations that may not be expressed but which carry much of the meaning. In languages like Arabic that context is very important. Languages come with heavy cultural baggage too—in French or German if you miss the cultural references behind a word you’re very likely to be missing the meaning. It will be very hard to teach all that to computer.
All the predictions are that English will be spoken by a declining proportion of the world’s population in the 21st century. I don’t think foreign languages will really become less important, but they might be perceived to be— and that would in the end be — a very bad thing.
1. According to the text,we can infer that Chinese _______.| A．is a language full of cultural background |
| B．is narrowly used by local peoples |
| C．will be regarded as important as English |
| D．will soon become the universal language |
| A．Foreign languages should be taught for political importance. |
| B．Learning another language is just like learning to play chess well. |
| C．British education lacks a rational approach to the teaching of foreign languages. |
| D．Learning a language need to know a country’ cultural and intellectual system. |
| A．It can replace for live knowledge of the different languages. |
| B．It can always keep the pace with the times in the translation. |
| C．It can reduce the hard work that a vast translation represents. |
| D．It can express the implied meaning beyond word associations. |
| A．Learning foreign languages is a challenging job. |
| B．Learning a language is good for your mental health. |
| C．Cultural background blocks the understanding of a language. |
| D．Computers play an important role in learning foreign languages. |
9 . Henry Stanley is perhaps best known for his expedition into Africa to find Dr. David Livingstone, but that’s not the only rescue mission he undertook. In December 1886, Stanley set off into Africa on what would be his last journey: an attempt to find and bring home a German zoologist named Eduard Schnitzer.
Schnitzer had taken the name “Emin Pasha,” in an attempt to be better received by those he was living among. Pasha was cataloging a host of recently-discovered plant and animal lifeforms when fighting broke out in the Sudan. Pasha withdrew to Equatoria, at about the same time the Emin Pasha Relief Committee was formed. In addition to the chief goal of bringing Pasha home, Stanley was also under orders from the King of Belgium to open up some new trade routes in the area.
The roundabout route the Committee ended up taking meant that by the time they finally found Pasha many members of the expedition were dead. Those that did survive were worn, ill, and starving by the time they found Pasha who, in comparison, was well-dressed, clean, and—by some accounts—smoking a three-year-old cigar when they finally found him. He was in need of some support and supplies, but he had neither intent nor desire to leave the area. Arguments arose, causing a firm hatred between Stanley and Pasha.
Stanley finally convinced Pasha to leave with the remains of the expedition, setting off on a demanding trip back through Africa. They finally met up with some German explorers, and made it back to the port town of Bagamoyo in 1889.
During the party they threw to celebrate their return to civilization, Pasha fell off a balcony and broke his skull. Stanley returned to Europe to receive commendations and congratulations, while Pasha slowly recovered from his unwanted rescue.
1. What may be the title of this passage?| A．Happiness was balanced by sadness | B．Stanley’s best known expedition |
| C．A “successful” rescue mission | D．A legend of Emin Pasha |
| A．Hatred among the members led to bloody conflicts. |
| B．They were involved in a fighting with the local army. |
| C．The Committee was dismissed halfway through the mission. |
| D．The route they chose cost them too much time and supplies. |
| A．Criticism. | B．Resignation. |
| C．Preparation. | D．Credit. |
| A．Pasha was in good condition. | B．Pasha ran out of supplies. |
| C．Pasha felt delighted at their arrival. | D．Pasha was addicted to tobacco. |
10 . Janus, the Roman god, has two faces looking in opposite directions. So does artificial intelligence (AI). On one side are the positive changes, enabling people to achieve more, far more quickly, by using technology to improve their existing skills. Look the other way, though, and there are plenty of potential pitfalls.
Like Janus, technological change may also cause disruption(混乱), but AI is likely to have a bigger impact than anything since the appearance of computers, and its consequences could be far more disruptive.
In the years ahead, AI will raise three big questions for bosses and governments. One is the effect on jobs. Although CEOs publicly praise the broad benefits AI will bring, their main interest lies in cutting costs. One European bank asked Infosys to find a way of reducing the staff in its operations department from 50,000 to 500. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2030 up to 375m people, or 14% of the global workforce, could have their jobs replaced by AI.
A second important question is how to protect privacy as AI spreads. The internet has already made it possible to track people’s digital behavior in minute detail. AI will offer even better tools for businesses to monitor consumers and employees, both online and in the physical world. Consumers are sometimes happy to go along with this if it results in personalised service or promotions. But AI is bound to bring invasion of privacy that is seen as unacceptable. For example, law-enforcement officials around the world will use AI to spot criminals, but may also monitor ordinary citizens.
The third question is about the effect of AI on competition in business. A technology company that achieves a major breakthrough in artificial intelligence could race ahead of rivals, put others out of business and lessen competition. This is unlikely to happen in the near future, but if it did it would be of great concern.
It is too early to tell whether the positive changes brought by AI will outweigh the risk. But it will put an end to traditional ways of doing things and start a new era for business and for the world at large.
1. Janus is mentioned to .| A．introduce the topic | B．praise the Roman god |
| C．tell its difference | D．support AI |
| A．consequences | B．risks | C．effects | D．benefits |
| A．AI is a double-edged sword. |
| B．People show great concern about AI. |
| C．privacy is threatened by AI. |
| D．AI will enjoy a bright future. |
| A．Objective. | B．Positive. | C．Worried. | D．Subjective. |
